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Honda patents a new adventure bike with a supercharged engine

We may see a supercharged Africa Twin in the future.


Honda Supercharged Adventure Motorcycle

Throughout the year, Honda never failed to keep itself busy when it comes to its new patent filings. Whether or not some of them would eventually make it into its production stages remains to be seen in the future. However, it seems that the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer is looking at supercharging an adventure motorcycle based on one of its patent filings that have circulated the internet. That being said, based on the sketches of the patent filings, the idea of seeing a supercharged Africa Twin, one of its best-selling adventure motorcycles, seems more plausible in the distant future.

The sketches clearly reveal the design of an adventure bike, yet, would the engine platform prove to be a success, it could also become useful for a whole new range of motorcycles. The way it works, the system makes use of a supercharger unit mounted on top of the gearbox, just behind the barrels of the engine. Air is fed into its inlet with a long snorkel that runs up to the left side of the down-tube that eventually meets with a plenum chamber/collection box near the steering head. 

Honda Supercharged Adventure Motorcycle

After the air cycles through the supercharger, the pressurized air is fed to the engine through a curved inlet that loops just right above the height of the cylinder head. After that, the cylinder head then mixes the pressurized air with the fuel and is ignited by the spark plug forcing the pistons down, and propelling its final drive. The supercharger that Honda has chosen appears to be the twin-screw type, where the two chambers suck air in synchronicity on the fill side of the supercharger and force it out on the discharge side. 

Honda Africa Twin

It is still unclear why Honda decided to develop a supercharger made for an adventure bike platform. After all, Honda was never really interested in participating in the bid for supremacy when it comes to horsepower. However, with emissions standards continuing to get more stringent year after year, the threat of obsolescence for the Africa Twin necessitates the need for Honda to rethink its engine configuration and design. Adding a supercharger could still allow it to remain in the market while complying with the homologation requirements without sacrificing power output. 


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